Voight: Turned Conservative After 'Marxist' Left Caused & Ignored Vietnam/Cambodia Slaughter

On the Wednesday, June 10, Beck show on FNC, during an interview with host Glenn Beck, actor John Voight informed viewers that he decided to abandon his left-wing past partly because he blamed the "Marxist" anti-war movement of the Vietnam War era for causing the "slaughter" in South Vietnam and Cambodia after America pulled out of the region. After recounting that "I was surrounded by people who were very heavily programmed Marxist, and I didn't even realize it at the time that this was communist-based stuff, you know, that the communists were behind organizing all of these rallies and things," Voight continued:

And then I saw the end of the war. I saw us pull out, and then I saw the communists move in and slaughter 2 1/2 million people in South Vietnam and Cambodia. And I saw the left that had precipitated this turn away, just walk away from it. ... They didn't take seriously the blood that they had been directly causing. And it didn't – but I must say programming is very, very deep. And I didn't really pull out of it for quite a while afterward. But that's where the dime dropped and things started to happen. And then I , you know, then 9/11, of course.

Below is a complete transcript of the interview from the Wednesday, June 10, Beck show on FNC:

JON VOIGHT CLIP FROM REPUBLICAN FUNDRAISER: Obama really thinks he's a soft-spoken Julius Caesar. He thinks he's going to conquer the world with his soft-spoken sweet talk and really thinks he's going to bring all the enemies of the world into a little playground where they’ll swing each other back and forth.

GLENN BECK: Jon Voight over the weekend at this political fundraiser. Jon, how are you, sir?

VOIGHT: Great.

BECK: A guy who has been speaking out for quite some time, and I appreciate that.

VOIGHT: I appreciate you, too.

BECK: You've got to be taking heat. Are you ever going to work again?

VOIGHT: Well, someone said on a program on CNN that it would be a miracle if I worked again. And, of course, look, if the Hollywood crowd wants to go back to the '50s, if they haven't learned a lesson and they want to blacklist somebody, well, that's what will happen. But my losing a job is not so important. I can take care of myself pretty good and I'll be okay. But I'm concerned about the millions of people who will lose jobs, who are losing jobs, who have children, and they need those jobs to feed their families. Listen, it’s a serious time. So I'm not so worried about myself.

BECK: You were, first of all, do you think it was a coincidence that you were blown up at the end of 24?

VOIGHT, LAUGHING: Talk about prophecy.

BECK: That's right. You were a lefty in the '60s.

VOIGHT: I was, mm-hmm.

BECK: What woke you up?

VOIGHT: Well, you know, I came into celebrity in the end of the '60s, and I was surrounded by people who were very heavily programmed Marxist. And I didn't even realize it at the time that this was communist-based stuff, you know, that the communists were behind organizing all of these rallies and things. And I was swept up in that hysteria. And then, and I'm ashamed to say it, you know, I was in that group. And then I saw the end of the war. I saw us pull out, and then I saw the communists move in and slaughter 2 1/2 million people in South Vietnam and Cambodia. And I saw the left that had precipitated this turn away, just walk away from it.

BECK: It is so funny. I talked to David Horowitz just a couple of years ago. And he said that was the turning point for him, too. He said they walked away and he was like, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, I thought we believed in something."

VOIGHT: Right.

BECK: There is a lack of intellectual honesty.

VOIGHT: They didn't take seriously the blood that they had been directly causing. And it didn’t – but I must say programming is very, very deep. And I didn't really pull out of it for quite a while afterward. But that's where the dime dropped and things started to happen. And then I , you know, then 9/11, of course.

BECK: Back with Jon Voight, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: We're back with actor Jon Voight, who is quite outspoken, has become quite outspoken lately. We were just talking in the break that, I mean, we're on a pace to lose, do you believe we're losing capitalism? Or can we lose capitalism?

VOIGHT: We're losing so much. This man, Obama, is not only, you know, has not only set himself to redistribute the wealth of the middle class. He also is set to take over, control the industrial wealth of the country with banks and with, you know, the major corporations, with foreign companies.

BECK: Frightening stuff. Do you play 60-second rapid fire?

VOIGHT: I'll try. Anything you want. I say that, what the heck is it?

BECK: This is easy, 60 seconds. Put it on the block. Here we go. Rapid fire with Jon Voight. Here we go. Is fame overrated?

VOIGHT: Yes.

BECK: Is anonymity underrated?

VOIGHT: Probably, yes. I wouldn't know about it.

BECK: If Jon Voight now could talk to Jon Voight in the 1960s, what would you tell him?

VOIGHT: I would say, "Hold on, fella. You're way off base."

BECK: Pink's Hot Dogs or In-N-Out Burger?

VOIGHT: In-N-Out.

BECK: Wow, you're really, you’re not a burger guy. You’re not a fast food. Jon Voight doesn't pull up to the fast food restaurants. Name a Republican you trust in Washington.

VOIGHT: Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan.

BECK: Name a Democrat you trust in Washington?

VOIGHT: Joe Lieberman.

BECK: Your favorite Founding Father?

VOIGHT: Thomas Jefferson.

BECK: Fill in the blank. I want to be remembered for:

VOIGHT: For leaving the world a better place.

BECK: If you could force all Americans to read one book, what book would it be?

[BECK STARTS LAUGHING BECAUSE VOIGHT IS HOLDING BECK’S BOOK]

VOIGHT, HOLDING UP BECK’S BOOK: Glenn Beck's Common Sense.

BECK: No, no. Seriously.

VOIGHT: Hot off the press.

BECK: I know. You haven't read it yet.

VOIGHT: Well, I'll tell you. You know, I'm sure it's going to be great. I really like Mark Levin's Liberty and Tyranny.

BECK: Yeah, I hear good things about it. Thank you very much, sir.

VOIGHT: It's great to see you.

BECK: Good to see you. Safe travels.